The ramblings of a lifelong model railroader.

December 21, 2011

Tunnel Work "Back Home"

Milepost 540

A recent newsletter about the railroads in and around Ohio had this little tidbit of information. One of the projects that stimulus money was spent on was the reconditioning of the Gould Tunnel near Steubenville, Ohio. For those of you who are regulars here, you know that is near where I grew up. In fact, somewhere in my totally unorganized collection of photos, I have some pictures of the entrance of this particular tunnel.

The Gould Tunnel has a rather interesting history. It is part of a section of railroad known as the million dollar mile. As the story goes, when it was built, Jay Gould took a map, a pencil and a ruler then drew a straight line connecting two points. He then told his engineers to "build it." He didn't care what the cost was. I don't remember the exact numbers but that particular stretch of track was straight and had several bridges, tunnels and fills on it to connect the two points on Gould's map. It crossed the Ohio River near Mingo Junction. This was done as the Pennsy had staked out and built their rail line in such a way as to block him from some of the lucrative traffic in and out of Pittsburgh.

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Tunnel Work "Back Home"

Milepost 540

A recent newsletter about the railroads in and around Ohio had this little tidbit of information. One of the projects that stimulus money was spent on was the reconditioning of the Gould Tunnel near Steubenville, Ohio. For those of you who are regulars here, you know that is near where I grew up. In fact, somewhere in my totally unorganized collection of photos, I have some pictures of the entrance of this particular tunnel.

The Gould Tunnel has a rather interesting history. It is part of a section of railroad known as the million dollar mile. As the story goes, when it was built, Jay Gould took a map, a pencil and a ruler then drew a straight line connecting two points. He then told his engineers to "build it." He didn't care what the cost was. I don't remember the exact numbers but that particular stretch of track was straight and had several bridges, tunnels and fills on it to connect the two points on Gould's map. It crossed the Ohio River near Mingo Junction. This was done as the Pennsy had staked out and built their rail line in such a way as to block him from some of the lucrative traffic in and out of Pittsburgh.